Rituals are a special and often irreplaceable event in many spiritual practices. Each ritual is unique to its user, but there is also similarities between them. Rituals attempt to create a clear focus within your mind and sphere around you. How do you do that?
The mind
What is occupying your thought? Clear your mind, focus on what you are doing right now, and what you wish to achieve. Don’t let your mind wander to things irrelevant to this moment. Thoughts of what you want to eat for dinner or housework that needs to be done can wait. Such thoughts only serve to confuse your focus.
Objects and actions that help you focus or clear your mind can prove useful. chanting, praying and meditation are examples of such.
The body
What are you physically experiencing? Repeat sensations of specific sounds, scents, touches, and tastes is a conscious and subconscious way of making an occasion special. An emotional response is formed over time with memories of past experiences with the sensations.
Creating a good atmosphere aids your body to connect to the present. It shifts your focus to what is happening right now.
Here are examples of how to connect with your five senses.
Sight
- Clean space, clean mind. Keep your sacred space clean. It is a way of showing respect to your craft.
- Create a sacred space that you find both visually pleasing and relevant to your craft.
Hearing
Surround yourself with soothing sounds such as soft music. Sounds that clear your mind is also a choice, like bells for instance. Try to avoid music or noise that steals your attention.
Smell
Try using certain scents in your ritual. Repeating the use of specific scents subconsciously trigger emotional reactions to your memory of the scent. Sage and Florida water are an example of scents commonly associated with spiritual work.
Touch
Some spiritual practices use physical objects. Let’s use tarot as an example. Shuffling, splitting, drawing and placing the cards are all physical interactions. The physical sensation is closely linked to your emotional response. How you handle your tools are both a conscious and subconscious collaboration between body and soul. Treating an object with care is a way to connect with the object. If you believe it is magical or not is beyond the point. If you treat your tool with respect, the tool will subconsciously resonate with you.
Taste
Drinking something tasty promotes an overall feeling of well-being. Tea as an example is great for both relaxing and clearing your throat. You can also try offering Tea or something to drink to a client. This will help them relax, and in return, it will become easier to connect with their energy.
The soul
What are you feeling right now? Do you feel connected to what you are doing? Is your attitude positively attuned to what you are doing? If you are doing spiritual work for someone else, do you feel connected to them? Keeping a positive and loving attitude means a great deal. Negative feelings and doubt about what you are doing will only serve to sabotage you. When doing spiritual work for you or someone else, good energy is essential. Believe in yourself and don’t forget to breathe. I personally recommend opening your ritual with meditation. Meditation is a path of both the mind and soul. It helps you create good energy and clears your mind.
The soul aspect of a ritual can be considered as the “magical” part. This is the aspect where belief, as opposed to logic, is dominant. Belief based objects and actions are thought to purify energy and aid the soul. Such as lighting candles for protection.
Rituals are as magical or mundane as you choose to believe. In a spiritual setting, it can be something grand, like connecting to the universe. Or it can be something practical, like creating a task focused atmosphere around you. It all boils down to your perception of the world. Do you think rituals are all in the mind or are they a part of something greater?
May you have a blessed day!
Sincerely, Hermit of the North
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